1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to monitoring of a nuclear reactor and, more particularly, to a system for monitoring and diagnosing abnormalities within a nuclear reactor pressure vessel.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of monitoring is conventionally performed on nuclear reactors for early detection of degradations to minimize plant outages. Examples of such monitors can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,860,480 and 3,860,481, both assigned to the assignee of this invention. These patents are directed respectively to analysis of the vibration of core components as indicated by analysis of the noise content of neutron flux signals and a loose parts monitor using accelerometers mounted on the exterior surfaces of primary system components where metal particles are likely to accumulate. Many other types of monitoring systems are used on a typical nuclear reactor. Some systems include analysis of the signals, while others simply consist of a sensor, a recorder and communication means for supplying the signals detected by the sensor to the recorder.
Thus, there is a great deal of information about the operation of components and systems generated for a typical nuclear reactor. However, there are relatively few monitoring systems which analyze the available data to determine possible causes of changes in signals. As a result, nuclear reactor plants used for, e.g., electricity generation, experience unplanned outages when components fail or approach failure, despite the information provided by existing monitoring systems.